The Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, Sam Amadi, has described the Federal Government’s fuel subsidy removal policy as a failure, saying it has neither improved economic productivity nor delivered welfare gains to Nigerians.
Amadi said the government’s economic policies appeared to prioritise businesses and wealthier Nigerians rather than lifting people out of poverty.
“The focus of this government policy today is not on lifting the poor but the rich,” he said.
According to him, subsidies themselves are neither good nor bad, as governments around the world use them to achieve specific economic and social objectives.
“It depends on what you want to achieve with subsidy, whose welfare is it targeted to,” he said.
Amadi acknowledged that Nigeria’s former petrol subsidy regime was poorly administered and had been associated with corruption and benefits accruing to middlemen and marketers.
However, he argued that removing the subsidy without sufficient measures to protect vulnerable citizens had failed to deliver the expected economic benefits.
“For me, I judge the subsidy policy removal of this government as a failure because ultimately, it has not improved the economy in terms of productivity. It has not generated welfare gain for the people,” he said.
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Amadi said economic policies should be assessed based on evidence of their impact on poorer Nigerians, particularly whether their living conditions had improved.
He also opposed a return to the previous subsidy system, saying the government should pursue a more targeted approach that protects vulnerable Nigerians without recreating the problems associated with the former regime.
“I don’t think you should remove subsidy the way you did, and I don’t think you should bring subsidy the way it has been administered,” he said.
